Ice cream is
an easy frozen treat to make and enjoy year round. It is particularly
refreshing and delightful during the steaming hot summer months and with
summer’s seasonal bounty the flavor possibilities are infinite.

I usually
use whole milk in my dairy based ice
creams, but if you wish lesser fat content you can substitute it with 2%
milk. You
can play with the proportions, here I use 1 part milk to 1 part cream.
You can
use a 2:1 ratio instead or just 100% milk or cream. There is much room
for self
interpretation.

Yolks = The Creamiest Cream
I like 5 egg
yolks in the custard base, for both dairy and dairy free ice creams, but I’ve seen some recipes with as many as 8 yolks. What
I present to you here is my personal preference but feel free to develop yours
and put your own unique signature on each batch of ice cream. Use this as a
guide.

Make It Dairy;Make It Parve

You can make
ice cream dairy free or Parve, with coconut and almond milk and a soy creamer. I
use coconut milk as we are allergic to tree nuts. Some who are allergic
to tree nuts might be allergic to coconut as well, but not us.

Both parve
and lower fat will affect the creaminess and richness of this refreshing
dessert, but you will still achieve a scrumptious frozen treat! Don’t fear. Be playful! Make it your own!

Serving
Suggestions

You can
serve the ice creams as ice cream sandwiches in between your favorite cookies,
graham crackers or even macaroons. Another fun way is to make a sundae bar. You
can pour the churned ice cream into popsicle molds instead of freezing in a
container for a fun kid’s party, into your favorite pie crust or freeze as an
ice cream cake for a birthday party.

Leftover
Egg Whites

You can make
some macaroons, meringue, egg white omelets or French macarons with the
leftover egg whites.

In a non
reactive medium sauce pan with a heavy bottom, pour 1 ½ cups of coconut milk, 1
tsp vanilla and ¾ cups sugar. Mix coconut milk, vanilla and sugar with a heat
resistant rubber spatula or a wooden spoon, and keep on low/medium heat until
milk starts bubbling around the edges of the pot.

While
coconut milk and sugar mixture is warming up, whisk the egg yolks in a medium
heat resistant bowl. Once coconut milk starts bubbling around the edges of the
pan, add in few increments about ½ cup of the warm milk into the egg yolks
while constantly whisking the yolks. Whisking the warm milk into egg yolks
makes sure the yolks won’t curdle. This process is called tempering.

Add the
tempered yolk mixture into the milk sauce pan and incorporate 1 tablespoon of
cocoa powder at a time while constantly whisking until you have added all the
cocoa powder and the consistency is smooth, lump free. If you wish for an
intense chocolate flavor, add 6 tablespoons of cocoa. Continue whisking on
low/medium heat for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, let cool, refrigerate
until chill and add the soy creamer. Add the soy based creamer ONLY after the custard base is completely cooled! Mix
and refrigerate for a few hours until chilled or overnight. The Parve ice cream
base will be more liquid like than custard like.

Strain
chilled ice cream base through a sieve and churn in an ice cream maker
according to manufacturer’s directions. If you do not own an ice cream maker,
look at the instructions at the first post in this series, Salted Caramel Ice Cream with Salted Caramel Shards, for alternate directions.

Freeze in a
container for at least few hours. If
frozen overnight or for a few days, a quick 5 minute thawing on the counter
might be needed before serving. This Parve Coconut Chocolate Ice Cream tasted incredible
with the soft serve ice cream cone as well.

Variations:

*Dry skillet
toasted unsweetened coconut flakes can be added to the ice cream base prior to churning
or as a garnish on top. Toast 1/4-1/2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes in a
skillet or a frying pan on low/medium heat, while occasionally mixing for a few
minutes until lightly golden. No need to add oil into the skillet as the
coconut flakes contain natural oils. Dry roasting the coconut flakes
intensifies their flavor and aroma. Same process can be achieved in a 350F oven
for a few minutes while mixing the flakes every couple of minutes.

24 comments
:

Shulie, I love this non-dairy ice cream and it looks cool, icy and perfect! And love chocolate-coconut combination. I rarely make ice cream only because I just don't have a big enough freezer to store it. A shame because I would love to try this one. Maybe after I move and empty my tiny freezer. Meanwhile I did - oddly enough - just make a Cherry Prosecco Granita (dairy free too!)

I am in love with this post! The ice cream looks incredible and the recipe is so simple. I always love making meringues with my extra egg whites. I've tried French macarons one too many times with almost no success. I'm going nuts about it!

I love the sound of this. Just 2 questions: what is soy creamer? (I am from Australia and I have never seen it here, is there a substitute??) and is there a reason why you don't want the cocoa to be dutch processed? Thanks!